16 Wrestling Backstage Fights You Didn’t Know About

The field of professional wrestling has become so wildly competitive over the years that not every “superstar” gets the opportunity to shine at the biggest stages, and the downright dislike for another superstar often gets them to tussle against each other behind closed doors. Not every person is friends with one another in the backstage area, as some have over the years gotten in some backstage fights which most people probably don’t even know about.

While some of the infamous backstage fights like Bret vs Vince after the Montreal Screwjob, Jericho vs Goldberg or the recent Sin Cara skirmishes are widely known by the wrestling fans, there have been certain uglier fights over the years involving some wrestlers who you wouldn’t take as those to get into fights. Some fights are because of the wrestlers’ downright hatred for each other, while some others happen when a wrestler stands up to another bullying, arrogant wrestler and puts them in their place.

There have been a lot of backstage fights amongst arrogant wrestlers over the years, but these 15 backstage fights might be rather unknown to the fans, but they were pretty heated all the same.

16. Big Show vs Chavo Guerrero Jr

via wrestlestars.com

Big Show might be the world’s largest athlete, but he is actually a really friendly giant outside the WWE and very nice to his co-workers as well. But Chavo Guerrero Jr lost his mind in 2004, when he started to show his pent-up resentment towards the giant whom he thought undermined Cruiserweights like him. He insulted him, calling him “fat” and “lazy” and while Show was mostly cool with the jibes, he reached his boiling point when Chavo went too far one day. He picked up Chavo and threw him into a group of wrestlers, as Chavo had to be escorted outside before the fight could escalate into something really bad. This was done for the well-being of Chavo, who was a fool to rile up a giant like the Big Show who showed that although he’s friendly most of the time, you wouldn’t want him to snap if one values their well-being.

15. Perry Saturn vs Bam Bam Bigelow

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While most of the wrestling fights are brewed by dislike amongst some of the wrestlers, some of the snitching snakes in the locker room love to brew fights between the wrestlers just for their own entertainment. This was the reason why Perry Saturn and Bam Bam Bigelow came to blows in WCW in 1999, which was already a sinking ship. Perry Saturn was supposed to face Bam Bam Bigelow in a match in which he would go over, but Bigelow apparently didn’t want the match to finish the way creative wanted it because he had already lost a match like that. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to put Saturn over, he just wanted a different finish that wouldn’t hurt him as much. Kevin Sullivan was the guy who made the match and when Bigelow refused the finish, Sullivan told Saturn that Bigelow didn’t want to put him over and left the room. Saturn would take offence to this and punched Bigelow, as the two had a bit of a fist-fight before they were separated. Saturn later discovered about the reality of the situation from Bigelow, as he would go over in the match and left WCW when Sullivan became head of creative in WCW in 2000.

14. Kevin Nash vs Jean Pierre Lafitte

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Kevin Nash was on top of the world in the mid 90s, as he was not only WWE Champion but also part of a highly influential group called The Kliq who ruled over the WWE at the time. They could change decisions and get almost anyone to job to them, but Jean Pierre Lafitte wasn’t exactly anyone as he headed into a match with Nash at a show in his home-town of Quebec, Canada. Nash had boasted to Lafitte a month before the match about how he’d pin him clean in his hometown, something Lafitte didn’t take seriously before he was told by the road agent about the finish prior to the match. Lafitte would not take the pin in front of his home-crowd, as he told them that he’d lose to Nash anywhere but his home town. Finally it was decided that the match would end in a double count-out, and so it did. But after the match, Nash and Lafitte went brawling to the back where the tension got very real and the two started to engage in a short shoot fight when the cameras were off them. Later Lafitte was eventually fired by the WWE after The Kliq used their power, but Lafitte’s fearless standing up to the domination of The Kliq was quite admirable as he literally took the fight to them.

13. Rob Van Dam Vs Tazz

via WWE.com

Tazz was one of the more intimidating wrestlers back in his ECW days, as his legitimate knowledge off MMA was often seen in his unconventional yet effective style. While many didn’t want to really mess with him because of his in-ring skills, that didn’t deter the cool Rob Van Dam who didn’t really care about ticking Tazz off. During an event, Tazz was angry after an RVD and Sabu match, and said that he was going to kick both their butts, so he went looking for RVD. When Van Dam saw him, he told him to “Pick A Hand” to which Tazz was pretty taken aback, before RVD struck him with a punch straight to the face. Tazz was shocked and went on the defensive, as he didn’t show the courage to tussle it out with the fearless Van Dam. While this wasn’t really a bloody backstage fight, it goes onto show how the “intimidating” wrestlers aren’t always that scary in real life and fear to actually fight it out behind the curtains.

12. Buff Bagwell vs Hurricane Helms

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Buff Bagwell was never going to be a major player in the WWE when he was bought among the WCW talent, and rather than trying to improve his own state in the company, he would bring his arrogance and disrespectful nature. Bagwell had the reputation of disrespecting the Cruiserweights for being small, as he did so with Hurricane Helms when they both came to the WWE. When Hurricane was training one day, Bagwell came and insulted him for being small to which Helms replied by saying Bagwell was on drugs. This irked Buff who smacked him hard on the back, but Hurricane wouldn’t back down as he threw a bottle at him which split his head open. Hurricane then apparently threw some punches in before the two were separated, as Bagwell would feel Vince’s wrath when he was fired from WWE. His parting gift was a painful one when he had to wrestle against a stiff Bradshaw, as Bagwell’s arrogance was never going to help him in his career and in this instance got him humiliated by someone much smaller than him.

11. Scott Hall vs Marty Jannetty

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Scott Hall and Marty Jannetty both seem like people who don’t really look for trouble in the locker room, as they like to have more time drinking and partying with their friends in wrestling. But when they were both up and coming in the Central States territory in the mid 80s, they got into quite a bloody backstage fight which was mostly Jannetty’s fault. He was the top babyface at the time around those parts and loved to party hard, often trashing up hotel rooms. He trashed up Scott Hall’s hotel room one day, as the hotel authorities caught Hall and asked him about the mess, to which Hall was clean about as he hadn’t done anything. Hall heard that it was Jannetty who did it, so the next day he went to Jannetty’s locker room and beat the hell out of him while he was passed out on a table from drinking. When Jannetty finally woke up, Hall was leaving in a fit of rage as he later tried to find him with a pipe but was taken to the hospital by fellow wrestlers. They later made up, but an enraged Hall put a passed out Jannetty through a world of hurt in this unusual backstage fight.

10. Sheamus vs Yoshi Tatsu

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Sheamus might be one of the toughest wrestlers in the WWE for years now, as the Irishman has the power and guts to hold his own in a real fight. But he has that arrogance which someone shouldn’t, as he would be put in his place by none other than Yoshi Tatsu when they were both in WWE developmental in the late 2000s. Sheamus would often borrow a protein shaker but never washed it before returning, also owing Tatsu some money. When confronted by Tatsu and Ted DiBiase about the shaker, Sheamus got on the defensive and wanted to fight with Tatsu. What he didn’t know was that Tatsu was trained by the New Japan Dojo, as Sheamus got beat up pretty bad during the fight and was taught a lesson by Tatsu. He would return his money and wouldn’t act arrogantly in the backstage area anymore, as the tough Irishman being put to his place by the smaller Japanese wrestler goes onto show how skill is more worthy than raw strength in wrestling.

9. Vince McMahon vs Kurt Angle vs The Undertaker

via Complex.com

Not all backstage fights in the wrestling world are violent and deeply personal, as some of the fights are actual jokes; the altercation between Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle in the air while they were returning from the European tour was something like that. Vince continued to boast to Kurt about how he was the only one to “take him down” to which Kurt was protective about, as he’d go onto attack Vince and take him down jokingly, with wrestlers laughing about it. But The Undertaker, who was sleeping, found nothing funny about it as he woke up to find Angle on top of Vince. He choked Angle to near unconsciousness, not knowing that Angle and Vince were playfighting. Taker later apologized to Angle about it and Kurt respected that. It goes to show how even someone like Vince McMahon loves to joke around with his employees at times.

8. JBL vs Joey Styles

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The WWE has it’s strict anti-bullying policies which it loves to show off all the time, but ironically the company has had some bullies over the past inside it. JBL was one the most notorious bullies during his time, as he had hazed a lot of young talent in the past and in 2008’s “Tribute to the Troops” event tried to bully poor ECW commentator Joey Styles. He was continously bullying him by calling him names and even purposely spilled his drink on him, as Styles withstood all of these bullying. But one day when JBL took it too far, Styles started to retaliate physically and they got into a physical fight before other wrestlers had to contain them. But during this commotion, Styles managed to hit JBL with a mighty punched which knocked out the former World Heavyweight Champion, as the bully was taught his place by Mr. “OH MY GOD” himself. Styles won the respect of his colleagues(including Vince McMahon) for standing up to JBL’s bullying, who tucked his tail and wouldn’t dare to pull such a stunt afterwards.

7. New Jack vs Junkyard Dog

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New Jack is one of the craziest persons to ever step foot in a wrestling ring, as the ex-ECW alumni can do ANYTHING in the ring to get better of his opponent. You wouldn’t want to get in a scuffle with someone like him, but Junkyard Dog was constantly antagonizing New Jack when they were in ECW in 1998. Apparently Jack had bought Junkyard Dog 300$ of marijuana and driven him to a wrestling show, but Junkyard couldn’t pay him back as the promoter paid him in check. Jack would ask Junkyard to pay him his money back, but Junkyard kept on antagonizing him and stated that he wouldn’t pay him back and he can do whatever he wanted. Paul Heyman told Jack that he’d pay him the money back instead, but Jack wouldn’t take that money as he wanted Junkyard’s money and when things got a little bit too heated, it also got violent backstage. Punches were thrown and they went into a scuffle, as Jack hit Junkyard in the crotch with his knees and punched him below the eye, causing a wound. They were eventually separated as Dog had a match later that day, as Jack would never get his money back as because Dog died in a car accident some days after the event as the violent fight might have been a cause for that.

6. Hulk Hogan vs Harley Race

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Hulk Hogan and Harley Race were both one of the greats in the field of wrestling in the mid 80s, as Hogan was beginning to become the best wrestler in WWE while Race was already one of the best wrestlers in the world at the time. Race also started his own promotion in the Kansas City area, as he booked a match between him and Ric Flair on the date when WWE also had a show in the city. Race got more and more angry about WWE booking a date exactly when he had as well, as he went to the place where WWE was having it’s event in a fit of rage and had Hulk Hogan in his targets. He went in and went to the locker room to find Hogan, as he would hi him hard in the rib cage area when he turned his back on him knowing how much it would hurt him. Hogan was confused and turned to see it was Race, as they exchanged some words before Race pulled out a gun. Things were eventually cooled down, but Hogan was frozen and didn’t have the guts to fight back when he saw that gun as this backstage fight could’ve led to something worse had the people hadn’t cooled down the temperamental Race at the time.

5. Bob Holly vs Rene Dupree

Bob “Hardcore” Holly didn’t really get to the position he would’ve dreamt off in the WWE, but he was in the company for a long time and was also a backstage enforcer who would take business into his own hands at times. But Holly also did some cowardly, unnecessary at times and this included his fight with Rene Dupree when the young wrestler was starting to gain popularity in the company. So Holly and Dupree travelled together on the road, as Dupree apparently got Holly a ticket for driving illegally and this caused a court ruckus for Holly and he was pissed at Dupree for this. In a “hardcore rules” tag team match, Holly would display his pent-up aggression against Dupree as he would beat the living hell out of him. With stiff chair shots to very real punches and kicks, he left Dupree in a mess before the match ended and the two rushed to the back, where they apparently went at it again. Dupree didn’t get the opportunity to defend himself or fight back as this was a cowardly act from Holly, who has the reputation of being horribly stiff with young workers and should’ve been punished for this awful beat-up of this young wrestler.

4. Andre The Giant vs Akira Maeda

Andre The Giant might have been a friendly giant who did the job most of the times, but this wasn’t always the case as Andre had quite the attitude problem as well. When he went to wrestle in Japan to wrestle the great Japanese wrestler Akira Maeda in a gigantic match, he decided to humiliate Maeda in their match. In what quickly turned out to be a shoot match between them, as Andre would completely fail to sell any of Maeda’s submissions and often mocked his “shooter” gimmick at the time. He also went after Maeda’s eyes at one point, as he would continue to stand there and wouldn’t sell any of Maeda’s moves as the live crowd were left frustrated and confused at what actually happened. Finally the promoter would have to come down and stop the match, much to Maeda’s and Andre’s anger as Andre wanted Maeda back in the ring as Maeda kicked a guard extremely hard in an attempt to get back and teach the giant a lesson. This shoot fight goes onto show how at times the ego of wrestlers result in absolute disasters, as this potentially amazing match was left to a frustrating fight between these two big men.

3. Ric Flair vs Eric Bischoff

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Ric Flair has to be one of the most respected individuals in the history, but Eric Bischoff didn’t seem to regard him as one as he would often do things to humiliate Flair after an earlier incident between them in WCW. Flair had a lot of anger for Bischoff when he came to the WWE in 2002 and one day he decided enough was enough, as he went to the locker room where Bischoff was at to confront. Flair asked him to listen to him to which Bischoff tried to shoo him away, but Flair him hard sending in to the floor with some punches. He then went on top of him and threatened to take out his eyes, as he continued to batter him with punches and ended up busting him up after some punches. He wanted Bischoff to retaliate but he didn’t want to fight him, to which Flair got even more angry and wanted to hit him when Sergeant Slaughter came and cooled things down. Flair’s beat-up was on the behalf of many others who resented Bischoff for what he had done to them in WCW, as the Nature Boy showed Bischoff his place that day in 2002.

2. Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar

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While some of the backstage fights are because of the wrestlers hatred for each other and some other are done jokingly, some wrestlers shoot-fight to determine who the “better man” is in real life. This was the case with Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle in the early 2000s, as Lesnar was training in the ring with the Big Show when Angle came on and told Lesnar to start fighting with him. They had a shoot fight for about 15 minutes, as the two would be extremely close but according to Jim Ross and Gerald Briscoe(who were there), Angle won the match in the end. Lesnar has stated that he pinned Angle in under 30 seconds, but that doesn’t seem to be believable at all as this shoot fight was one among two of the most technically sound wrestlers in the WWE at the time and Angle’s amazing amateur background (which won him an Olympic Gold Medal) prevailed in the end and got him the win and showed why he’s still better than the Beast when it came to proper wrestling.

1. Scott Steiner vs Diamond Dallas Page

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Most of the backstage fights are separated quickly after beginning, but that wasn’t the case when Scott Steiner and Diamond Dallas Page went at it in their WCW days. It all started when Kimberly Page (DDP’s wife) caught a drug substance in the locker room and blamed Sunny for it, who denied as such. Steiner chased Kimberly out of the building after it, as this caused heat between Steiner and DDP. Afterwards, Steiner would insult DDP by telling him to get a sex change operation and this ticked DDP off, who went to wait for Steiner to come back. They traded some insults before DDP sucker-punched Steiner, who was enraged and suplexed him to the ground. They would shoot fight for a long time as DDP had him in a face-front lock and then punched him for some-time, before Steiner got a hold of him and continued to smash him for sometime before he bit his hand and the others managed to get the two separated. DDP won over the locker room with this, as he showed incredible guts to shoot-fight someone like Scott Steiner as he earned the respect of many with this move, as he legitimately put his safety on the line to prove a point to the disrespectful Steiner.